Daily Republican., 1887-02-19
THE GAS QUESTION.
Whsk . wen Informed wiimipgton
0as supsristendent hes 70 say ON Gas
sappiiss.

Whst . Vol Informed WilmipgtouY l
0as supsristepdent hes 70 say ON Gas
sappiiss.
Last ysar up to the frat Of January,
gas was furnished 70 the city Of VIII
mipstou at the rats OF 81 80 per thousand /
feet. Since the first OF last January,
the price Of gas hes been u 80 per
thoussud feet. Thsss are the rates oil
the Wilmington Coal Gas Company.
As charters have been applied for from
the present Legislatufe for the incorpors.
tiOn OF At least two fuel and gas light
|compAniss for the ALLEGED purpose Of
|furnishing eas 1t cheaper rates, . repre-
sentsti 70 Of the REPUBLICAN, has had
len interview with Thomas Curloy,
OF the Wilmington Coal |
|Gss Company, In reference TO theI
matter, and to got his view Of IL ~ TO
whether gas could be made cheaper
with competing companies In the field.
There 10 probably no person In Will
minRton who undeFstands the gas ques.
tion more thoroughly than Mr.. Curley.
owing to his long connection with the
company be serves 10 faithfully - Its
superintendent.
"Mr. Curisy, It 10 said that the gas
you manufacture IL weak, and that it|
takes more Of 1t to make certain strain
| OF light than II 1t were stronger, and
that In copseq aence 1t costs moro. How
about that?" WAs asked.
"There 10 not word OF truth In all
that" said Mr. Curley. aad then he
went into m explanation OF the mode OF
testing gas BIZ means Of Burnam's bar
phstometer, the very best = ade for that
l purpose, the very best English sperma.
csti candies being used for the test.
Tho operation includes . vast amount
Of close figuring and comparisons OF
ratios and fractions TO arrive at . cor
rect result, but there seems to be no
Idoubt that the system is correct one.
"It 10 also said thAt your works hav'
ling been made with capacity TO sup
ply city OF not more than 20. 900 popu.
lation, you cannot supply . city prop
eriy Of GO, 600; Is that correcl?"
s'It IL not correct" said Mr.. Curley.
I'Our capacities in every respect are suf-
Ifciently large TO supply 80 per cent.
more gss than We are now supplying,
land so Der cent. moro with IN enlarged
lho!der At Fourteenth and Poplar sire els,
where 1t now is, or some other remote
point."
"It is also, said Mr.. Curley, that
lowing TO the insuf1cisnt capacity of the
lgas mains you have to uss 30 much
/ Ipressure that the gas escapes ut tht
metres, and cres.es large gss bills, how
about that?"
. "Tht re, TOO, Ii an error The fact Ii
! don't know . city In the Union tha
has bat 15-l01 pressure, what our work.
. have, with an ordinary consumption
. and when oil the cos.ou factories up ths
I Brand Wise are running with full
IheAds OF gas the Increase Of pressure Il
oniy 2 10 more. Our works are suf8-
i, icisntly large to-day 10 manufActur'
! double the quantity Of gas"
MI. Curley said the representations o
u these companies were only TO deceive
Q the people In order that they might OBJ
Itain . foothold In cities, they woule
then enter into Q oompettica with th'
Q old companies, reduce the prics OF ga
away down below what 1t eau be man q
: factured for, and then when both com
: lDanies have lost money the compsnie
! lunite Mnd put mp the price OF gas highe
A than 1t was before there were tive com
o paniss, to make up Losses. Look q
y Reading T." said Mr.. Curley, "where tn
o lcompany that wants to enter Whining
: ton was perxitted to establish plan
D There. What 10 the result? A consoll
daticn Of the two companies, and gas
tnow furnished a. 81 per Thousand feet.
"In Baltinore," said Mr.. Curley, p"
% ocompetiiion IL still going on and gas
{. furnished at price far below what
y costs This no company can stan
60 very long, and the result will be tbs
., one company must sell out to the othe
ID and then the price Of gas will 60 uI
81 This is the fourth perambula.inE CON
Ipsny that has tried competition In Ba
ltimore. In New York there have bee
o, seven or eight companies, but they onl
" divided the patronage OF the city an
" raised the price Of gas. In Philade
s' phia, where three thousand million fe'
Of gas WAS consumed, the price VIZ
Isl 60 per thousand feet. In Whining
lton, where one hundred million fe'
or were consumed, the price 10 only Sl.i
or Der thousand feet" MT. Ourley said I
70. expected to geo the time when q
n would ba 81 90 per thousand feet. but
Iother companies were to be permitte
nj TO come iu and take away part OF u
lis patronage the price OF gas would natu
or ally have TO 60 up unless each compar
sold ut o loss, which they could n
rs afford to do very long.
isl The gas contests that have been ca
ed Iried on in most OF the cities OF u
lUniop, forms An interesting history.
IBrooklyn q competing gas compar
was admitted and for a time the CIT
LIENS rejoiced In gas furnished as low
ou 12 and 16 cents per thousand feet, du
l& ing q brief competition. The new COZ
'h ipany was however soon brought
81 terms by the old one aud was forced
~ pay Handsomely for the privileges oi
% district. This operation has been I
ne atod over and over until at last the
, are ak companies furnishing gas, me
Of them charging 81 30 per thoussl
fest, where one COM paDy could furni
1t with o large profit at 81 90.
Nashville and Memphis, both cities
Tennessee, are striking examples OF
,..Joompetition. Nashville shut out cor
iS petition and has gas furnished at VA
sn ,sA emphis let in competition and pa
,ns ios Ss -.
my Newark, New Jersey, is an instar
VI of an exhaustive gas war, which
ended in the two competing compan'
pooling their business, and gas
higher than II there were but one co
o;Ipany.
oed Patterson, n. j., has also been
OH sceue Of an exhaustive gas struggle.
up com petiug company was here admits
kbut In time the new company was
IsoIbed Dy tns OH ono eahins PNov,'
of stock az d Sl00, 900 In bonds, maxi
:. a needless and useless interest chal
RIA, RIA, on $500, COO in real estate, works, mai
CAS- etc., that sre not at present USED at
land probably never will be-.
The same results attending the
toontes,s in the cities named are apl
has cable to Buffalo, N. Y, New Orles
,rk. indianapolis, Rochester, n; T., oie
vest land, Detriot, Harrisburg. Chicsgo,
call Francisco, Pittsburg, Syracuse,
lro,t. m n pnapv other cities.